In the End, We are Nothing but Fairytales
by CamiKingst
Summary: Emma finds Regina in her office, severely beaten and mistreated, she refuses to go to the hospital, or talk about who made this to her and she doesn't stop repeating that Emma is the one in danger. Nothing made sense and she'd have to find out what is going on there, as she always did. But this time she'd have to break Regina's secrets into pieces and then pick them up again.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything belongs to the ABC studios and OUAT creators. There is no copyright infringement intended in this story.

I want to thank my beautiful Beta** Sultry Sweet** whom I owe so much for her help.

**Chapter 1:**

Storybrooke's sky was gray and pretty crowded with lots of dark clouds and that could only mean one thing, a storm was coming and it was going to be a tough one.

It was getting dark when Emma and Henry crossed Storybrooke's limits after their long day visiting Boston's museums.

The contrast between being outside or inside the limit line was just ridiculous. It was getting dark on both sides, but out there, the sky was so clear there wasn't even a little baby cloud anywhere, but then when the limit line was crossed, reality just hit like the little bitch she is.

It was as if that was the universe's only way to remind them, they didn't belong to that land. Transforming Storybrooke into Maine's wallflower, the town nobody has ever heard about, so fictional and magical it might be better that way.

And yet, maybe this incoming storm has nothing to do with destiny or casualty, maybe it was just Regina or Rumplestiltskin playing wizards again.

"Can I stay with you tonight, Mom," Henry started. "I want to show all the cool stuff we bought today to my grandparents, can I, please?"

"Sorry, kid, but we told your mom we were staying in Boston tonight and the fairest thing is that I take you home now that we didn't, so she can know we came back earlier, okay?"

"Please, Emma…"

"Oh no, little boy, you are not using those puppy eyes on me. See this face?" she asked pointing to her own expression. "This is my 'not gonna happen' face."

"Okay, whatever you say, Mom," Henry said rolling eyes. "I had to try, anyway," he added, shrugging.

Normally, she would surrender to his puppy eyes and would allow the kid to stay with her, but today she had something important to do and that included taking Henry to Regina's – as part of the ambush she had planned – to make the mayor speak.

The truth was, she only wanted to know why Regina had refused to go on the trip they had been planning together for weeks, and why she had insisted for them to stay the night in Boston. The brunette had said she had a last minute issue at the Magistry and that she couldn't go with them to Boston, but she was lying. Emma knew it, but then the mayor just pushed them into Emma's bug, practically kicking them out of Storybrooke, before the blonde could do anything about it. That was the reason why Emma had ended their trip earlier than expected.

Emma drove all the way to the mayor's house, but when they arrived there, there was no one at home. So she asked Henry to stay in the house while she looked for Regina around town. He didn't complain since he was too busy playing with the stuff that Emma had bought for him in the museum giftshop. It was better that way. There was something wrong in the town that day. She could feel it. Call it her sheriff super sense or whatever you want, but something was happening there and she was going to figure it out at all costs. Besides, she had the feeling that Regina was the key to get the information she needed.

* * *

She entered the Magistery and saw a slight light seep out of the door slit from the mayor's office, so she assumed the brunette was still there.

"Madame Mayor, I just wanted you to know that Henry and I… " Emma started, bursting in Regina's office without even announcing herself just as she used to do. "Regina! What happened? Did someone attack you? Are you okay?"

She rushed to Regina's side as soon as she casted a glance in the direction where the brunette sat.

Regina's shirt was ripped open, exposing several marks and bruises on her chest and stomach. She also had grip marks around her arms and jaw and dried blood and teeth marks on her lower lip, "Regina? Can you hear me?"

The brunette showed no sign of even noticing the sheriff presence, her eyesight lost somewhere behind the window.

"Hey, come here, it's okay." Emma took off her jacket and covered Regina's body with it. "What happened, Regina? Talk to me. It's Emma. You're safe now."

"Emma?"

It was like something had clicked in Regina's head and suddenly she fixed her gaze on the blonde, who now was just inches away.

"Emma, I told you to stay in Boston! What are you doing here? Why didn't you listen to me?" She desperately asked, grabbing Emma's wrists so tightly it hurt.

"Well, now I'm glad I didn't! You needed me here, not in Boston."

"You don't understand! It isn't safe here, for you or Henry." Her grip around the blonde's wrists got tighter, if that was even possible. "Henry! Where is he?"

She started to look around desperately. "Where is my son!?"

"H-he is safe. I just left him at your house." That seemed to calm her down a bit. "What's happening, Regina? Why are you saying that Henry and I are in danger?"

"If he is in my house, he is no longer in danger, but you are, Emma. Listen to me, you need to get to my house and stay there until tomorrow morning."

"There's no way I'm leaving you here like this," Emma stated.

"I will do nothing but delay you. You need to listen to me for once, Miss Swan. Please, just go…"

"If you want me to be safe in your house, you'll have to come with me because I'm not going anywhere without you. Understood?"

Regina simply nodded while she tried to build up the strength she needed to stand up.

But then, when she finally managed to get up, an unbearable pain ran all over her body, making her stumble and almost fall to the floor. Thankfully, Emma held her up before that happened.

"I can't, Emma. You have to go without me. He's going to be here soon. Please… just leave," the brunette begged. "He can't hurt me anymore, nobody can…"

"Who? Who wants to hurt you? Or me? Or whoever? Who did this to you, Regina? What aren't you telling me?"

"Don't you see I'm just trying to protect you? Why won't you listen to me?"

"Because you aren't telling me anything!" Emma yelled in frustration.

"I'm telling you that you have to leave now!" Regina yelled back, but the effort it took made her hold her ribs in pain and bend forward.

"Look, Regina, you're clearly not okay and I'm not leaving you here like this. I'm the fucking sheriff of this town, right? And I'm the one in charge of your safety. So I'm taking you with me, no matter what. Even if that means I have to carry you in my arms."

The mayor's simple answer was to get away from the blonde's grip and start walking on her own, but every step she took made her weaker and weaker. It was obvious that she wouldn't even make it to the door, not alone at least.

She was about to fall once again when Emma caught her, wrapping an arm around her waist and placing Regina's arm around her own shoulders so she could lean the brunette's weight there.

Regina was practically dead weight then. She couldn't endure the pain any longer and her complete weight rested on Emma's shoulders, literally. She couldn't stand on her feet by herself, so the blonde had to drag her all the way to the stairs.

By the time they got downstairs, the brunette was struggling to breathe and was holding her ribs as if her life depended on it.

"Maybe I should call an ambulance," Emma offered.

"I-I'm not t-that bad, Miss Swan," she hissed.

"No, you're even worse than that, Regina. I really mean it. We need to take you to the hospital."

"No! We need to get to my house now!"

"Okay, I'll take you there. Just don't force yourself to the limit."

Emma remained silent after that. There was no point arguing with Regina. Yelling just seemed to worsen the mayor's delicate state of health.

Somehow, Emma managed to get to her Bug, dragging the brunette across the parking lot. She then quickly sat Regina in the passenger seat and ran to her own seat. She sat in the driver's seat and turned on the car, but she didn't start it. She simply sat there, hesitating about what she was supposed to do.

She knew that Regina, for some unknown reason, wanted her to take her home, but she also knew the brunette needed a doctor immediately. She didn't feel prepared to help her. She knew nothing about first aid and she still remembered how useless and frustrated she had felt when Graham was dying in her arms and she couldn't do anything. She didn't feel like going through all that again.

She cast a final glance to the brunette. Regina had her head leaned back against the seat. Her chest moved up and down with difficulty as the air seeped slowly into her lungs and her hands shook uncontrollably.

The hospital... It was decided.

"I know what you are thinking, Swan, but please don't. Please just take me to my house. I promise if you do, once we are there, I'll explain everything to you and answer all the questions you have."

"Okay, but if you get worse I'll call Doctor Whale, no matter if you want me to do it or not. Got it?"

"Okay! Just stop wasting time. We don't have much of it. He probably already knows you're back in town."

Emma didn't even bother to ask who Regina was talking about because she knew Regina wouldn't say a word until they reached her house. So instead, Emma started the car and headed to the mayor's house.

* * *

"Okay, we're here. Wait there. I'll help you down," Emma said before she rounded the car and opened Regina's door. "Here, give me your hand."

Emma helped her get out of the car.

"See? We're in your house. Save and sound, right?"

The brunette didn't answer. Instead, her gaze was once again lost in the distance.

"... Regina?"

"Emma, get onto the porch. Now," Regina suddenly said.

"What? I'm just gonna help you and then..."

"No, _now_, Emma!" Regina freed herself from the blonde's grip then pushed her away so hard she threw her through the air and the blonde landed on the porch stairs.

As soon as she touched the ground, a big black shadow tried to pounce over her, but there was some kind of force field around the porch that didn't allow it.

"That's right, you bastard, you can't get to her because I'm protecting her. You might have had me, but you will _never_ have my granddaughter. Not while I'm alive!" Regina shouted to the shadow and it just tried to lash out against the force field once again before it turned around and pounced against Regina.

Regina bent forward and landed on her knees, after the shadow crossed through her body.

"Regina!" Emma stood.

"No! Stay there, sweetie pie. Grandma's okay. Just stay on the porch. I'll go in a second," Regina said while she tried to stand up.

"Wait, what? 'Grandma'? Like, what the fuck? 'Sweetie pie'? Seriously, Regina? What the hell is really going on here?"

Regina shook her head before she came to Emma's side.

"Can you just forget I just said that?" Regina asked as she opened the door.

"Hell no! Like, some kind of monster just tried to attack me and then Regina Mills, also known as my personal biggest hater, just called me her granddaughter and a sweetie pie and you are asking me to forget it?"

"Basically, yes."

"Mom? Is that you?" Henry asked, yelling from his bedroom.

"Emma, you can't let him see me like this. Please," Regina begged.

"You want me to cover your back? Well, you better start talking and the first thing you can tell me is what the hell was that shadow back there?"

"It isn't a what. It's a who... Emma Swan, let me introduce you to your grandfather, King Leopold. Or at least what's left of him."

"Wait, that was my _what_?"

"Your grandfather, yes."

* * *

**NA/: If you like it and want me to continue it, please leave a comment, reviews help me to get inspired and write faster.**


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, first of all, thank you very much for all your reviews and follows and support that you gave me, it really help me to write this chapter quicker and the fact that I'm updating just until today has nothing to do with me feeling unsupported or whatever, the thing is that the past two weeks I was in exams at college so I had not very much time to write but now I have so I'll be updating more often.

I also want to thank to my Beta** Sultry Sweet **who makes of my writing a much better reading material.

And last but not least, in case that you were wondering, this story is set after season 3 winter finale, except that Emma and Henry never were forced to leave Storybrooke.

**Chapter 2:**

"Mom… Come here. I want to show you all the cool stuff Emma bought for me at the museum…" They heard Henry say from his room.

Regina cast a glance upstairs, concerned. The plea clearly showing in her eyes when she returned to look at Emma's shocked expression.

"Emma, please…"

"Grandfather?"

"Emma! He is going to come down soon," the brunette said as she looked upstairs once again, afraid to find Henry there.

"Okay, but this conversation isn't over, Madame Mayor," Emma said and then ran upstairs without even waiting for her answer.

"Hey, kiddo!" She saluted when she stepped into his doorway.

"Emma? I thought my Mom was here. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm also your Mom so technically your Mom is here…" she tried to gain some time to build up a good lie to tell Henry.

"You know what I mean…" Henry said, rolling eyes. "Did you find her?"

"Yeah, I found your mom in her office, but she said she wasn't done with the paperwork just yet so she asked me to come over and babysit you."

"Hey! I'm not a baby, Mom!" he exclaimed, furrowing his brow.

"I was just joking, kid. God! Someone is a little bit irritable today, isn't he?"

"Whatever!" he shrugged, frustrated.

"God! You're becoming a teenager!"

"Shut up! I'm not! Teenagers act in a weird and stupid form."

"Now you understand what I mean," Emma mocked.

"Emma!" Henry complained and then both of them started to laugh.

"Okay, so if you are not a baby and you are neither a teenager, what are you exactly?"

"Just Henry," he answered smiling genuinely.

"Okay, just Henry, I'll tell you something, why don't you start assembling that 3D scale T-Rex figure that we brought today while I make us something for dinner?"

"That's a great idea. I'm starving!"

"Okay then. See you in a while. Just don't let that dinosaur eat you. Not while I'm not around to enjoy the show."

"Dying while you're not around? I wouldn't dare. Don't worry, I'm not such a bad son," he answered, sassy words slipping naturally out of his mouth; an attribute he had clearly learned from Regina. "You just need to worry about not burning up the kitchen, you know? Now that Mary Margaret isn't here to babysit your cooking."

"Oh! Shut up, clever boy. I'm a…decent cook."

"Yeah, you keep saying that. Maybe some day the Blue Fairy will hear you and do us all the favor of making that a reality."

Emma could swear she overheard a weak laugh come from the hallway and then a cough following it. Regina might have somehow managed to walk upstairs.

"You know what, little guy? Just for that, I'm having dessert and you are not!"

"Oh great! The pudding punishment again," he rolled eyes. "I think I can handle it."

"Great!" Emma said, opening the door and then closing it quickly behind her as she saw that Regina hadn't gone to her room yet.

"Great!" she heard Henry yell from inside.

She was about to yell back at him when Regina gave her an annoyed look, so she stopped.

"You need some help here?" the blonde asked quietly so Henry couldn't hear.

"I'm okay," the brunette answered even when it was obvious that she was struggling to walk.

"Look, you're clearly not," Emma said, following Regina into her room, because she finally had managed to get there. "But if you don't want my help, I can't force you, can I?"

The sheriff turned around and headed to the door again.

"I'm gonna be downstairs making dinner if you need me," the blonde said as she reached the door and was about to go when Regina stopped her.

"Miss Swan, I know that you only want to help and that you have the best intentions while I'm here just being a…"

"Rude little bitch?"

"I was actually going to say stubborn, but you're right. Maybe I have been a little bit rude with you today."

"Just today?"

"Okay, always. But my point is that I'm not used to have someone care about me, as you keep doing, and I just keep asking myself, 'Why would you even care?' After all I have done to you, you just keep being nice and keep trying to help me. Why is that?"

"You're family now, Regina, and you're supposed to help and look after your family," Emma responded from the doorway, looking at the brunette over her shoulder.

"Emma, would you like to bring me a glass of water?"

"I'd be glad to," she said with a smile before she left the room.

Five minutes later, she came back to the brunette's bedroom with a glass full of fresh water in her hand.

"Here you have your water, Regi…" the blonde didn't finished talking. Instead, she just jumped, twirling until she was facing the door. Her eyes were wide open as she burst into a series of apologies and her cheeks were stained red.

Regina was beside her bed in just her underwear and she was halfway finished with putting on her nightgown, if that could be considered a nightgown. It was just a ridiculously small piece of blue silk.

"I'm sorry, I should have knocked. I didn't see anything. I promise. Forgive me I'm just not…"

"What, the kind of person who knocks before bursting into a place? Don't worry, Miss Swan, I'm already aware of that," Regina laughed a bit, amused with Emma's embarrassment. "You have been bursting into my office without announcing yourself ever since the day I met you. I think it's kind of late for apologies now, don't you think?"

"This is different. This is your bedroom and you were topless when I burst in and…"

"I thought you said you didn't see anything," Regina started to mess with the blonde.

"I didn't! I swear."

Regina giggled at that.

"Then if you didn't see anything, what's all this theatre you're doing? I mean, we are both grown women and after you found me – the way you found me, today in my office – I don't see how this could be any worse. So, Miss Swan, you better turn around already."

"Are you dressed yet?"

"Oh my, how childish is that? Yes, Miss Swan, I'm dressed…" Regina rolled her eyes, just in time so Emma could see it when she turned.

"When I said dressed, I actually meant like, wearing actual clothes, not Barbie size clothing, you know?" she said as she saw that the nightgown the brunette wore barely covered half her thighs, where she found several new bruises she hadn't seen until now.

"How sweet, dear. You think I'm a Barbie!" the brunette mocked.

"I don't…"

"Yes, I know what you mean. This is probably not the best day for me to show so much skin," Regina rolled her fingers around the grip marks on her upper arms. "But I didn't think I could bear pajama pants today."

"I didn't mean that. Really, Regina. I mean, you always look gorgeous in whatever you wear." Emma's cheeks instantly turned red as she realized what she had just said. "Not that I've been observing you…"

What? That had been even worse, why couldn't she just bite her tongue sometimes?

"You know what? I better go back to the kitchen to take care of Henry's dinner, and you better get some rest now. I'll come back later to see how you're doing." Emma ran out of the room, embarrassed, the shade of her cheeks even more red.

Regina sat in bed, her gaze fixed on the door where the blonde had just disappeared.

Emma's strange behavior robbed the brunette of words. Of all the people who could be acting strange that day, Emma was certainly the one she had expected to act more normally.

* * *

"Dinner is ready, kid. I thought you'd like to eat here while I help you out with the dinosaur…" Emma said as she entered the boy's room backwards while she carried a tray full of snacks. "But I can see you are already done with that," she added when she turned around and noticed the huge T-Rex figure completely assembled at one side of the bed. "And I can also see that all the 'This box contains a scaled T-Rex skeleton figure inside' was just bullshit because boy, this is a freaking full sized Rex, you know? How did you manage to assemble it so fast?"

"It's not that big. Don't over react, Mom…" Henry rolled his eyes, even though the dinosaur skeleton was tall enough to almost reach two thirds of the full bedroom height as well as wide enough to fill a square meter by itself. "Plus, I would have let you help me out with this if you hadn't taken a hundred hours to make dinner."

"Who's over reacting now?" Emma asked playfully.

"Not me! Like, seriously, why did it take you so long if you only made some sandwiches and pudding?"

"And popcorn," she said, pointing the bowl full of it that she carried on the tray.

"Microwave popcorn. So it doesn't count."

"Oh, god! Just give me a break, kid, I'm not the freaking Master Chef, okay?"

"No, you're clearly not," he laughed. "But I love you just the way you are with your non-existent cooking skills and all."

"I love you too, kid, but just to be clear…my cooking skills are not non-existent, they're just… shy."

They both laughed at that.

"Yeah, deeply, deeply, deeply, shy." He mocked.

"I know, right? But whatever," Emma said with a bright smile, as if she was very proud of her inability to cook, and then she shrugged. "Dinner…shall we?" Henry's stomach growled in response. "Dinner it is. And we better start eating fast or that dinosaur inside you will want to come out and eat us instead."

"Indeed he will and I'm going to tell him to start with you, Mom. Maybe that will satisfy him and leave me alone." He laughed and grabbed a handful of popcorn then filled his mouth with it.

* * *

Emma left Henry's room about an hour and twenty minutes later, after she finally managed to calm him down and get him to sleep. The storm outside had unleashed and Henry had started to freak out about Regina still being out there, not safe, and alone.

She had had to remind him that if somehow Regina found herself in danger, she could always use her magic and appear right inside the house, even stop the storm, or do anything else if she wanted to. That seemed to relax the boy, at least enough to get him tucked into bed.

Regina had proved that she really wanted to change, that she wanted to be a good person so many times now. She had proved it mostly in their short yet huge adventure in Neverland and even more after that. She had been willing to lose her son forever in order to save him from being left behind as well as to save everyone else in town from Pan's curse. There were so many times she had proven her good intentions that Henry no longer forbade her to use her magic, as long as she didn't use it to endanger someone else. Emma had even seen mother and son play with magic together in the best, Matilda kind of way with flying cards and everything.

Even though she knew about Regina's magic and how powerful the woman was, the sight of her magic had exactly the opposite effect on Emma than it would have had on anyone else. She internally frowned as she tried to understand how such a powerful and amazing Sorceress such as the mayor – who had proved plenty of times she was powerful and amazing – had ended up the way Emma had found her earlier that night? She couldn't keep avoiding the fact that Regina had been hurt, severely hurt, in so many ways that Emma would rather not think about it. And yet, it hadn't left her mind, not even for a second since they arrived at the house.

Henry had made her promise him that she would be waiting up for his Mom to arrive and that if she didn't get home by midnight Emma would come and wake him up and they would find her.

She felt guilty about lying to Henry though. She couldn't let him see his mother as hurt as she had been in that moment; not only because she had promised to Regina, but because it was the best thing for the boy's sake.

Things were done and lies had been told. There were nothing else Emma could do then, except maybe try to get the answers she wanted from Regina.

Emma started to head to the brunette's bedroom, her eyes tightly shut and her heart pounding fast inside her ribcage. There was a voice in her head that repeated over and over again that she might not really want to hear what Regina was about to tell her.

She entered Regina's room and quietly closed the door behind her. The image her eyes received was so incredibly beautiful that she didn't feel like doing anything else but lean against the frame of the door and stare at the brunette who was peacefully asleep in bed.

The slight smile on her face contrasted weirdly with the bruises on her jaw because she seemed so relaxed that anyone could forget how severely hurt she was a few hours ago.

Emma turned around, her hand on the doorknob, ready to go. If Regina still wanted to tell her the truth the next day, she would gladly hear everything she had to say. If not, well, she would find the truth somewhere else, by whatever means that were needed. She cast one last glance to the brunette, unconsciously printing that image in her mind.

"Are you going to stay there, looking at me forever, Miss Swan?"

Emma froze right there, her eyes locked on the brunette's now open ones.

Regina stared back at her and Emma didn't answer for a long minute until the brunette cleared her throat.

"I was just... I didn't mean to bother you. I can go somewhere else and we can talk tomorrow," the blonde quickly blurted.

"I thought you would want the responses I promised you immediately," Regina whispered.

"Well, yeah," Emma started as she scratched the back of her neck, "but I can wait until tomorrow to have that talk. You really need to rest."

"I bet you can, but the thing is, dear, that I might be willing to answer your questions today. Tomorrow it could be a completely different story. It's totally your choice though. Are you going to stay?"

"I don't have much choice, do I?"

"It depends on if you want to know the secrets I'm hiding or if you want to forget the few you already know."

"Why? Do you want to tell your secrets?"

"Oh, I hope you aren't getting me wrong, dear. What I really want is you to turn around and leave me alone."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not going anywhere."

"Of course you aren't."

"No, I'm not, so why don't you start for the beginning…Grandma?"

Regina took her gaze off of Emma as soon as the unwanted title left her lips, and the blonde woman instantaneously regretted messing with something she still didn't understand because it apparently affected Regina too much.


	3. Chapter 3

So here you have chapter three, I know it took me a lot, I'm horrible and I'm sorry. This chapter was just too difficult to write as I needed to explain a lot of things and decide what was the best way to do it, that's why I made this chapter longer, so you don't hate me for making you wait so long.

Once again I want to thank my beta **Sultry Sweet** for making this possible and all of you for the support, reviews, favs and follows, love you guys.

**Chapter 3**

**"Why? Are you wanting to tell your secrets?"**

**"Oh! I hope you aren't getting me wrong, dear, what I really want is for you to turn around and leave me alone."**

**"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not going anywhere."**

**"Of course you're not."**

**"Indeed, I'm not, so why don't you start for the beginning? …Grandma?" Regina took her gaze off of Emma as soon as the last word left her lips and the blonde woman instantaneously regretted messing with something she still didn't understand, as it apparently affected Regina too much.**

* * *

Regina sat up in bed, wrinkling her nose at the incipient pain that slithered up her spine and pounded under her rib cage. She rapidly enclosed her ribs with her arms and then leaned her back against the headboard. She slowly lifted her persistent gaze until it collided with the blonde's distressed one.

"You can sit anytime now, Miss Swan," Regina spat out.

Emma glanced around, looking for a place where to sit. There was nothing but the bed and a low-back chair that was so far away from the bed that it would be like if she sat at a bench at the park, expecting Regina to tell her secrets from the magistery with a megaphone.

"D-do you mean, like sit on the bed?"

"Well, unless you want to use the floor instead. I won't blame you though. It seems far from cold and uncomfortable," Regina scoffed.

"Okay, okay. I get it," Emma said, raising both hands. "If you're okay with that, I don't see why I shouldn't." Emma shrugged and let herself fall beside Regina, continuing by take her boots off and crossing her legs under herself. "Whenever you want, I'm listening."

Regina's eyebrows shot up to her hairline when she saw the blonde's sudden carefree behavior.

"Very well then. Here we go…" Regina sighed, "Remember that trip to Boston we were planning together for the three of us?"

"Of course I remember! It was just today! What's going on, Regina? Spit it out already, for God's sake!" The frustration of not knowing was getting the best of her.

"Right, well, there was never a 'we' in that planning," the brunette said, adding air quotes with her fingers. "It was only me and my plan never truly included me at all. It was always only the both of you going to Boston," Regina confessed.

"And why is that? I thought the main idea of the whole damn trip was to demonstrate to Henry that we can bear each other for a whole day without killing one another in the process. If you couldn't make it to Boston today, why didn't you just reschedule the whole damn thing?"

"You're not listening. Emma. The plan never included me because I couldn't get out of town today, but I needed you and Henry to be safe out there in Boston before all the things that were going to happen today, happened," the brunette tried to explain herself the best she could.

"Wait, what? Did you already know what was going to happen today?" Emma interrupted her. "The hell, Regina? Not even when you knew you could get hurt, you couldn't abandon the paperwork at your office for one day and come along with Henry and me to Boston?" Emma hissed with disbelief.

"It's not like that, Miss Swan. When I say that I couldn't leave town today, it's not because I had better issues to attend or whatever you're implying there, but because I actually COULD NOT cross the town line. Not 'this day'."

"What's that supposed to mean? The town line has never affected you. Why is this day any different?"

"Because it is! Okay, Miss Swan? I don't know why, it just keeps happening. The last day of every single month since the curse was broken, shit happens to me and I can't do anything about it. I'm physically bound to the town. I can't leave. I can't escape my fate, because it's written after all."

"Okay, so if this… What do you call it? 'Fate issues'…have been happening since I broke the curse, how is it possible that I don't remember anything about it? How could I simply ignore all of this for so long?"

"You didn't…" the brunette whispered lowering her gaze from the blonde's. "I t-took your memories away," Regina admitted, chocolate eyes still not reaching emerald ones.

"You did what?" Emma asked narrowing eyes.

"Look, I know how it sounds, but please let me explain before you blame me as you always rush to do," the brunette begged without daring to look into the blonde's eyes yet.

"You have ten minutes," was the Sheriff's only answer.

Regina allowed herself a quick glance at the blonde woman. There she sat over the brunette's bed as if it was her own, legs crossed under her body and arms firmly crossed over her chest. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, the look aimed right at her, trying to seem angry and yet, Regina could see beyond her 'don't you dare say something that I don't like' pose. There was nothing but a little girl with big, shiny eyes, bouncing on her toes just waiting for her to answer her queries. That made the brunette smile.

Emma clucked her tongue, uneasy under the now smiling brunette's gaze. Regina's smile simply widened at that, but then she held it back and regained her always unshakable mask. The tale of what happened the last day of the month in which Emma had broken the curse then slipped out of her mouth.

* * *

_The brunette let her eyes fly around her house then she allowed herself another sip from her cup of tea and leaned against the frame of the kitchen door. The house felt utterly empty without Henry._

_It had finally happened. The thing she feared the most was now a reality. The unbearable "Savior" had taken her son away from her. Regina sighed and took another sip of her tea as a single reckless teardrop slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away with a finger and composed herself once again. While she tried to withdraw the increasing feeling of regret that filled her gut, the voice in her head repeated over and over again that she should have let Snow and Emma die in that damn wishing well._

_She had saved them for Henry, to let him see that she was truly changing and trying to be a better person for Henry and Henry alone. And yet, there he was living with the Charmings and here she was, alone again with all her good intentions._

_Regina placed the empty cup in the sink and then left the house._

_Outside was completely quiet. The streets were empty and no surrounding voices or noises could be was utterly silent. It was the kind of silence that could only be seen as a hint of bad things to come, a bad omen. She couldn't be more right about that._

_The moment she walked around the corner, some kind of rope hit her legs and tied them tightly before she fell to the floor. Everything happened so fast she could barely notice what was going on until she saw them. Snow and Charming were running to where she was laying, but when she thought they would release her legs, David simply pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his belt and bound her hands together._

_"What do you think you're doing, David!?" she asked, trying to shake Mary Margaret's grip from her arms._

_"I don't know who this David you're talking about is, but I, Prince James of the White kingdom, am condemning you to the guillotine for all the crimes you have committed against the crown._

_"What the…? Snow, aren't you going to stop him this time? What about all that 'everybody deserves a second chance' babble?" Regina asked desperately, trying to free herself. The fact that David was acting like he didn't actually known who David was, was disconcerting._

_"Right, but the thing is, Regina, I have given you so many chances now that I'm done with that. Evil has completely blackened your heart. There is no way back and there is not a second chance," Snow spat out, giving her an expression of pity that she used to give the queen almost every time their paths crossed._

_Of all the expressions the black haired woman had ever given her – disdain, anger, or even that look of complete admiration she gave her when she was just a little stupid girl – Snow's pity was the one Regina hated the most._

_"You can come out now, guys. We've got her," Snow shouted over her shoulder at the same time that she and James began to drag Regina across the street._

_"Great! Let's take her to the square!" said someone in the crowd that suddenly appeared._

_Regina found herself being carried through the streets over Charming's shoulders. It was ridiculous, not to mention humiliating. Besides, she was wearing a pencil skirt, which made things even more uncomfortable, if that was possible. She whirled her wrists repeatedly, calling for her magic, but nothing came out. Her magic didn't work and she couldn't get free._

_The crowd finally got to the square and they tied the queen to the biggest statue there._

_"Where is the guillotine?" Leroy shouted from the front of the crowd. "She must have hidden it!"_

_"You are all going to regret this. That I guarantee," Regina stated, but it seemed like nobody was even listening to her. "Have you forgotten who am I and what I'm capable of?"_

_"Oh, we haven't forgotten, Your Majesty. That's exactly why we're doing this," Granny laughed, aiming her crossbow right at the point in between Regina's eyes._

_"Let's all look for that guillotine. She might have delayed her destiny, but she's not going to get passed it this night."_

_Regina's eyebrows shot to her hairline as it was Archie who was talking, the conscience thing clearly having gone on vacation._

_As quick as the entire crowd had appeared out of nowhere minutes ago, they all disappeared in a heartbeat in the search of a guillotine they logically wouldn't find in Storybrooke. Even the Charmigs were gone—after they had tightly gagged her, of course. Once she found herself alone again, she did her best to fight the handcuffs, hoping for them to break or something as fortuitous as that. But she was not that lucky, was she? Even her magic had abandoned her after a complete week without failing. How likely was it that it happened on the exact same day the Charmings and the rest of the town got murderous? She had performed magic perfectly since she had used her mother's book to regain it and now this happened? Things couldn't get any worse._

_"Come on, kid, I'll walk you to school," she heard Emma's voice from somewhere behind the statue._

_Regina unsuccessfully tried to call for help through the gag._

_"But I'm starving, Emma!" Henry responded._

_"Oh! Don't put it that way. It isn't my fault that Granny decided to take the day off, right? Come on, you can buy something at… Regina?" Emma rushed to the brunette's side, finally noticing the tied up woman. "What the… What happened? Why are you tied to a freaking statue?"_

_"Clearly not by choice," she answered, rolling her eyes as Emma removed her gag. "Would you mind?" She moved the handcuffs so Emma would realize her other form of confinement and could finally free her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some issues I have to sort out with your parents; issues that involve a guillotine they were planning to use on me." Regina said, smoothing out her skirt with complete grace as if she had just been eating in some fancy restaurant and not tied up to a freaking statue in the square._

_"Wait, what? Why would they do that to you?"_

_"Well, I don't know! You tell me, they're your parents! You all live together under the same roof and you're telling me that you didn't hear they were planning to murder me?"_

_"Sorry to interrupt your talk, Moms, but they whole town is, like, coming over there and they don't seem very friendly," Henry interrupted and both women turned around to see he was right._

_The entire town walked toward the square where the three of them were standing, no friendly expressions on their faces but lots of sticks, torches, and swords in their hands._

_"Mary Margaret? David? I don't know what's going on, but this certainly is not the way to fix the problem…" Emma shouted so they could hear her, but then Regina interrupted her._

_"Did I forget to mention they don't remember who they are?" the brunette woman asked._

_"What?"_

_"That woman and that kid are helping her escape!" Snow yelled to no one in general._

_"Burn the bitch!" someone shouted from the back of the crowd._

_"Burn them all!" someone added._

_"Okay, time to run, guys…" Emma said as the crowd got closer and closer._

_The three of them broke into a run through the streets. Even though running was not something Regina would usually do, she was without her magic. What else could she do if not run?_

_"Damn it, Regina! Nice day to wear a pencil skirt and five inch pumps."_

_"Well, excuse me for not putting on my 'in case someone tries to murder me' outfit! Next time, I'll bring my sneakers and baggy pants. I promise."_

_"IF there's a next time! They're getting closer. Come on, Moms, less fighting and more running." Henry intervened._

_"Yes, Ms. Swan, less talking and more running," the brunette said mockingly as she rapidly pulled her shoes off and run as fast as her skirt let her. "We should hide somewhere."_

_"Granny's! The door was open this morning even though there was nobody inside. Now we know why," Emma suggested._

_"Fair enough," answered the brunette._

* * *

"After that we ran to Granny's diner and remained hidden until next day when Granny and Ruby found us and we realized they were completely oblivious to what had happened the day before," Regina finished her narration. "So that's pretty much what happened the first time this happened."

Emma narrowed her eyes and hesitated while she tried to assimilate to all the new information she had just learned.

According to Regina, there was a day every month where all the people in the town began to act strangely and forgot who they were in Storybrooke. However, this new issue somehow didn't affect Henry or herself as they kept acting normally. It sounded like they were cursed all over again, except this time was one day a month and it seemed, as far as she knew, that Regina was the one who got the worse part of it. And yet, she still didn't understand why Regina had erased her memory. The story she told was perfectly similar to everything that happened in the town almost everyday. Why would those days be any different to the others in 'weirdland' Storybrooke.

"You aren't telling me everything, are you?"

"I am!" Regina nodded almost convincingly.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Superpower, remember?" Emma said, clucking her tongue and pointing to her own chest. "If it was all puppies and rainbows while hiding at Granny's then why would you erase my memory?"

"Ms. Swan, I swear, sometimes you are unbearable and other times you really are a freaking pain in my ass. Do you know that?"

"Yep, and I'm pretty much proud of it," Emma responded with a big, bright smile. "Then what happened…"

"Then nothing! I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm not here so you can make fun of me. Yes, I took your memories. Not once but several times in the past few months and no, I'm not giving them back to you. I'm the 'villain', remember? I do what I want!"

"Oh! Who's acting childish now? Okay, Regina, you can keep my memories, but you have to explain to me how this new curse works. Why do people in the town forget who they are? And more importantly, what the hell does that have to do with you believing you're my grandmother? Also, where the hell does my grandfather - the shadow- come into the story?"

Regina smoothed the blanket above her before she cringed in bed and locked eyes hard with Emma.

"You haven't understood anything. This thing, this new curse as you called it, it's not like chapters from the same story or something that stops at some point and resumes the next month. They're always different stories."

"What do you mean stories? You're talking about this like it's already written or something. Is it?" The blonde woman asked, her full attention put on the mayor.

"Somehow it is, indeed," Regina sighed. "Look, there are all these people out there who expend their lives writing about us."

"You aren't making any sense, you know?" Emma interrupted with an arched brow.

"Yes. I also refused to believe it when Rumpelstiltskin suggested such a thing, but believe it or not there are, and these stories they write are pretty much what are affecting us in this new curse. These stories control our actions and memories and there is nothing we can do about it.

"And yet, you're acting normal and seem like you have your memories intact," Emma let out, her voice full of skepticism.

"That's because I… Me, I'm different than the others. It works differently on me. I mean, I can do things willingly if the story doesn't demand otherwise. Somehow I can do what I want."

"That's because you're a 'villain', right?" Emma asked mockingly.

"I'm sorry?"

"Because you can do what you want…" Regina narrowed her eyes at her. "It was a joke, Regina. About what you said earlier? Okay. Forget it!"

"It's not something to joke about, you know? Oh, what am I saying? Of course you don't know. You don't know what it's like to be controlled by these ridiculous stories, to do what it says no matter what, to know what you're doing and unable to help it. They – the others, I mean – at least they don't remember the day after, but me? I remember everything. What I've done to them, what they've done to me. Under this curse I've hurt you. I've hurt Henry …" Regina suddenly started to sob. "That's why I took your memories away. I didn't want you to remember. I didn't want Henry to remember either."

"Hey! Shh, it's okay," Emma said reassuringly, taking the brunette's hands in her own.

"No, it's not! I've done horrible things to you. I've let the others do horrible things to you, your own parents, and at first, even though I couldn't help it, I thought it was okay. I was convinced that it was okay, that you deserved it."

"That's because you thought I took your happy ending away from you by breaking the curse. I can't blame you for that, can I? Life must not have been very fair to you if you thought a life in a loop of time was happiness."

"Fair life or not, I didn't have the right to hurt people in the process of finding my happy ending. I know that now," Regina stated.

"Yep, you didn't, but you know what? Life could be better. Life shouldn't let mothers kill their children's true love like yours did. Life shouldn't let mothers give up their children like I did, and life definitely shouldn't let mothers put their children in a magic wardrobe so they can save the world when they turn twenty eight!" Emma responded and didn't even notice that she was still holding hands with the brunette, stroking her thumbs over the back of the woman's hands in an attempt to calm her down – not that her chat about life's injustices was helping at all.

"Yeah, I kind of feel like that was also my fault. If I hadn't threatened them with the curse, they wouldn't…"

"No, they could have fought for me and they didn't. Instead, they accepted that being away from me was okay for the greater good. They did it for their people. Even when they fooled themselves into believing they did it for me, they could have taken a leap of faith and tried to keep the family together."

"I would have taken you away from them, you know?" Regina said, removing her gaze from the blonde.

"I know, but they didn't know that. Plus, life with you wouldn't be so horrible. I've seen Henry's room. I would have totally gotten used to that."

That made the brunette smile.

"There you go. Now that I was able to steal a smile from you, I'm leaving. Before I mess things up again by making you cry, have a good night," the blonde wished her. "And Regina…thanks for trusting me," Emma attempted to get up, but the brunette didn't let her.

"Miss Swan, can you…? Never mind… Good night."

"Can I what?"

"Can you… stay the night? I don't want to be alone," Regina said with trampled words, letting go the blonde's hands.

"Oh! Do you want me to…"

"There is plenty of room in the bed. Besides, the guest room is not ready for any visits," the brunette tried to clear up, her cheeks blushing a soft pink. She didn't actually know why she had thought to invite the sheriff to stay in her bed.

"Well, okay then," Emma responded, scratching the back of her neck.

"Really? Because you don't have to, if you don't want," Regina said, her eyes fully open in surprise.

"Well, I don't really feel like sleeping on the couch, so I'm taking your offer. Just let me…" Emma stood up and began to unbuckle her pants.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked, her eyes opened even wider.

"I hope you don't mind if I sleep in my boyshorts. I can try to sleep in skinny pants. I've done that before. It's not great, but—"

"You can grab any of my pajamas pants or you can sleep that way. Whatever suits you," Regina offered, looking away from the blonde legs as she noticed that she had her gaze awkwardly fixed on the long, toned musculature.

"Oh, I don't usually do jammies, but if you want…"

"For god sake, we should stop acting this childishly already. Just get into bed, Ms. Swan."

Emma did as she said and neither of them said anything else. They just lay in bed, looking up to the roof and breathing heavily.

"I would have liked you to be my grandmother, you know? You'd be a great Gran. I've seen the way you raised Henry… People say grandmothers spoil their grandchildren even more than their own children."

"Well, I'd have been your step grandmother, so who knows if I would have spoiled you or not. And don't forget the relationship your mother and I have. She would probably never have allowed me to see you."

"But I would have probably sneaked out of the castle and would have gone to see you. Like, 'my grandmother is an enchantress everyone calls The Evil Queen, what?' What kind of child could resist that?"

"And then I would have probably ripped your heart out of your chest."

"No, you would have grown to love me and you you'd have cast a sweet feast full of cupcakes and chocolate for me. Then we would have watched a nice Disney movie like, I don't know, 'Snow White' together on your wall size television while we made fun of how you're dressed in it."

"Really? No ripped out heart at all?" Regina asked as she laughed.

"No," Emma firmly shook her head against the pillow.

"Shocking!" The brunette woman exclaimed and both women burst into laughter.

* * *

Henry woke up nearly half an hour past midnight. The storm outside had faded, but he still was concerned about his mother so he got out of bed and walked through the hallway until he reached his mother's bedroom. Emma hadn't woken him up so his mother should have arrived home safe and sound by then.

He slipped his head through the door opening and he could see both his moms' shapes in the darkness. They where sleeping peacefully next to each other. That made him smile. He closed the door again and went back to bed.

Maybe they finally were getting along.


End file.
